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therefore hail the Botany of Malvern as one of the most perfect local 

 lists of plants that has ever reached our hands ; and, as such, we cor- 

 dially recommend it to our friends. With these preliminary observa- 

 tions, we proceed to give some lengthy extracts. 



^^ Localities of Plants.— The stranger who proposes to botauise in 

 this district must not expect to gather all its remarkable plants in a 

 cursory ramble on the hills. In fact, most of the rarer plants occur 

 rather in the valleys, or about the woods at the base of the chain, than 

 on the rocky summits themselves. But if the botanist has a few lei- 

 sure weeks to dispose of, with a zest for ramble, he will find abun- 

 dant scope for observation and enjoyment. 



"Early in the spring, the wood-spurge throws a light green verdure 

 about the declivities, contrasting well with dead grasses, withered 

 brakes, and the dark tufts of yet unflowered gorse ; soon after, tufts 

 of broom in many spots vein the hill-side with golden gleams ; and 

 about midsummer, the fronds of the brake give a verdant cincture to 

 the then arid masses of rock, bearded with crisp lichens. But on the 

 rocky masses themselves much depends upon a showery season, as 

 then minute plants are well developed, scarcely observable at any 

 other time. 



" The vegetation of this district may be traced in three divisions, 

 accordant not only with the obvious surface-aspect of the country, but 

 with its geological relations. The first division comprises the flat 

 country eastward of the hills to the Severn, whose course, setting aside 

 curvatures, is nearly parallel to the Malvern chain, the distance from 

 the river varying in the space between Worcester and Tewkesbury 

 from five to about seven miles. The whole of this plain consists of 

 red marl, with deposits of diluvial gravel in various places, close to or 

 within short distances of the river. To the south of Upton, several 

 isolated hills of lias limestone occur ; and north of that town various 

 tabular or roof-shaped hills of red marl, more or less covered with 

 wood, run parallel with the Severn, and beautifully diversify the scene. 

 Even nearer the hills, especially southwards, many fortress-like emi- 

 nences start up in a picturesque manner, and, robed with foliage, 

 greatly relieve the tame flat that would otherwise present itself. 



" Yet the wide green commons that stretch around the hills east- 

 ward, belted in by woodlands and ever verdant, have a peculiar and 

 pleasing character under varying atmospherical influences, when in a 

 summer afternoon the great mountain shadow covers them in gloom, 

 slowly impinging upon and lessening the farther landscape's bright- 

 ness ; and, pictorially, it must be regretted that such recent innova- 



